Apparatus for making rubber footwear



1,629,920 May 1927' F, J. MQCDONALD APPARATUS FOR MAKING RUBBER FOOTWEARFiled Oct. 20, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1927. May F. J. M DONALD APPARATUSFOR MAKING RUBBER FOCTWEAR Filed Oct. 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ill/III]I IMUJMPIIIIIZVIIJII "JH' 'HI ml W Wil member, supporting a hollow,festal v11 in which open, nally termediate part of paimie y 24, rear, hii D g ATES , tau-en FlQE.

FRANK J. MAGDQNALD, DE AEBQN, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO THE B. F. GOODRTCHCOMZPANY,

GE NEW YORK, N. Y GOBI'GMTI'ON OF NEW 'YQRK.

arrene'rus roe. Maxine Bunsen roorwnan.

Application tiled Butcher M), W23. Serial No. 689,745.

This-invention relates to apparatus for the manufacture of footwear,especially rubber last, and a rubberized fibre or rag stock insoleunderlying said lining upon the last,

The operation of uniting the shoe lining and insole, so tar as I amaware, heretofore has been performed by mechanical wipers on a lastingmachine, or by hand, with a heavy roller, in the case of manually lastedshoes. .Both of these methods have disadvantages, in that the folding ofthe lining around the sole edge results in numerous,

buckles and folds in the fabric which pressure alone may neithereradicate nor press flush with the insole.

My chief object is to produce rubber footwear haring improved adhesionbetween its lining and insole, and to unite the same so as to provide asmooth, flush junction of their exposed surfaces, and to provideimproved apparatus and procedure for accomplishing this result. A morespecific-object is to pro: vide apparatus of simple construction,

quickly adaptable to shoes of difierent sizes,

and rapid and economical in operation.

0f the accompanying drawings,

Fig.1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a preferred form of myapparatus, and work therein. v

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a shoe last with the lining. and insolethereon as they appear before being operated upon by my apparatus.

Fig.4 is a after such operation.

Referring to the drawings, 10 is a base vertical pedis mounted adepending pilot 12 secured at its upper end to a long, narrow,

upper end of the pedestal 11 is interbevcled as shown at 11 and theadjacent base.,,of the pilot is correspondingly tapered its-shown at 12,to provide a raceway for bearing balls 14 which permit the turret 13;--i-:ieely to rotate, A collar 15, provided with outstanding stop lugs,one of which is shown at 15, is secured on an inthe pedestal 11, and adepending stop-arm 16 is secured to the turret the sole of transversesection of the same wluch, adapted to engage the toe of the horizontaltable or turret E3. The

' i'ormer, engaging the 13 and adapted to abut said lugs to limit therotation of said turret to approximately 180.

Mounted upon the turret 13 at opposite sides of its rotational axis area pair of cylindrical housings 17, 17 in each of which is a heatingelement 18, those shown being of the electric type, 19, 19 beingelectric condoctors therefor. I do not wish to limit myself toelectrical heating elements, however, as other suitable heating devicesmay be employed. The bottom closure of each housing'l? includes anasbestos pad 20 upon which the heating element is mounted, and

the top cover of the housin comprises a rectangular plate 21, preterdblyoflhighly heat-conductive metal such as aluminum. Each plate 21 isprovided with upstanding dowel pins 22, 22,aligned transversely withrelation to the table 13, and 23, 23 are heatconductive dies or formsmounted upon the respectiveplates 21 and provided with apertures.toreceive said dowel pins 22. Each die 23 is adapted to form a seat fora shoe assembly such as is shown at 24 in Fig. 3, in which 24 is a shoelast, 24* is an insole, and 24 is a lining stretched over said last andhaving a cemented edge 24 folded over the adjacent edge of said insole.The upper or seating suri'ace of the die 23 is shaped to conform to thecontour of the bottom of the last,- so that the shoe assembly will fitsnugly thereupon.

For forcibly-pressing each of the shoe assemblies 24 upon the respectivedies 23, an L-shaped presser foot 25 is pivoted at its elbow, upon ahorizontal cross-head 26, between a pair of collars 27, 27 secured onthe latter. The resser-toot is formed at its ends with arcuatework-engaging faces, one of work, is covered with a resilient pad 28 toavoid defacin the fabric lining 24, the other being a apted concurrentlyto engage the shank of the last, and said work-engaging faces aredisposedat such relative distances from the pivot as substantially toequalize the pressure of the last upon the die throughout the sole areanotwithstanding the fact that the one engaging the shank of the lastexerts its force through a point nearer the center of said area thandoes the one engaging the toe of the work. The bare front part of theshank of thelast, with a short moment arm,

measured from the pivot of the pressurefoot, is adapted to apply apreponderance of the force exerted against the last, so that the otherwork-engaging face, engaging the stock u )on the last, is required toapply only a small, equalizing pressure, such as not to damage thestock, and is correspondingly disposed at the end of a relatively longmoment arm. A tension spring 29 is secured at one endto the resser-foot25 and at its other end to one of the collars 2?, normally to hold saidpresser-foot approximately in Work-engaging position. The

pivotal-mounting of the presser-foot and the arcuate form of itswork-engaging surfaces adapt it to engage the shoe lasts of varioussizes, so that it is necessary only to provide suitable die members inorder to operate upon shoes of different sizes.

Each of the cross-heads 26 is secured to the upper ends of a pair ofvertical connecting rods 30, 30, which extend through suitable aperturesin the table 13, at each side of the housing 17, and are secured attheir lower ends to opposite sides of a vertically disposed, mobile,fluid pressure cylinder 31. A hollow, stationary piston rod 32 issecured at its upper end to the under side of the table 13 and extendsdownward into said cylinder 31, its lower end being provided with apiston 33. The hollow piston rod 32 is open at its lower end, beyond thepiston, and is thus adapted to charge the cylinder, being connected nearits upper end with branch pipe 34: from a supply pipe 34, and saidbranch pipe being provided with a three-way valve 35 for charging andexhausting said cylinder. The supply pipe 34: is secured at its lowerend to the table 13 and its upper end is connected to a flexible conduit(not shown) communicating with a source of pressure fluid, preferablycompressed air, said supply pipe 34 thus being rotatable with the table13. Stop pins 36, 36 are mounted in the connecting rods 30, projectingradially therefrom, and are adaptedto abut the upper surface of thetable 13 to limit the downward movement of the cylinder to pre-' ventjamming of the presser foot against the die-when the machine is empty.For lifting each of the cylinders to disengage the work, upon thecompletion of the pressing operation and exhausting of the cylinder, apair of adjustable tension springs 37, 37 are attached to the table 13at their upper ends, and at their lower ends to eyebolts 38, 38 securedby wing-nuts 38, 38, to the opposite ends of a bracket 39 attached tothe bottom of the cylinder, the upward movement of the cylinder beinglimited by its closed lower end abutting the end of the piston rod 32.

In the operation 'of my apparatus, the dies 23 are heated, preferably toabout 180 to 200 degrees F., by the heating elements 18,

and the work, in the condition shown in Fig.

3, is then mounted as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 ton rod secured to andprojecting upon one of said dies, and the cylinder 31 is actuated tolower the pressure-foot 25 against the work and press the latterforcibly against said die. The operator then rotates the table 13 tobring the other die 23 within reach, and repeats the operation justdescribed upon another piece of work, the time required for so doingbeing suflicient to insure proper heating and pressing of the firstpiece, which is then removed, the table being turned back to bring itwithin the operators reach. The operator thus proceeds in successiveoperations as described, keeping the pressing elements in substantiallycontinuous operations Very effective and rapid pressing of the work isobtained, strong adhesion and a smooth surface of the lining and insoleresulting, as shown in Fig. 4, the edge 2 1 of the lining being flushwith the insole 2 and remaining permanently in that relation.

operation, softening the rubber, contributes largely to the result.

It will be observed that when-the parts are so proportioned that thepivot of the presser-foot is approximately over the center of the solearea of the shoe, as here shown, the equalizing of the pressurethroughout the sole area of the last will be present notwithstandingvariation in the size of successive lasts and variation in the points atwhich the presser-foot engages the last, since the effective moment armsof the presser-foot, as determined by vertical projection, vary in acompensating manner according to variation in the presser-foots pointsof contact with the work.

My invention is susceptible of modification within its scope, and i donot wholly limit my claims to the specific construction shown or theexact procedure described.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for making footwear, said apparatus comprising a support, aturret mounted thereon, a plurality of presser members mounted on saidturret, each of said presser members being adapted to compact shoe partsassembled upon a last, a pisdownward from said turret under each of saidpresser members, a piston on the lower end ofeach of said piston rode, acylinder mounted upon each of said pistons, pull rods secured to saidcylinders and extending upward past said turret, means secured to thetops of said pull rods, over said dies, for pressing the work againstsaid prcsser members. and means for charging said cylinders in diiferentrotary positions of said turret.

2. Apparatus for making footwear. said apparatus comprising a support, aturret ltld shoe parts assembled upon a last, a fluid pressurecylinder,'carried by said turret, for each of said presser members,means for actuating said cylinders in different rotary positions of saidturret, and-means associated with said cylinders for pressing a lastwith shoe parts thereon against the respective presser members.

3. Apparatus for making footwear, said apparatus comprising a support, aturret mounted thereon, a plurality of presser-members mounted on saidturret, each of said presser members being adapted to compact shoe partsassembled upon a last, a piston rod secured to and projecting downwardfrom said turret under each of said presser members, a piston on thelower end of each of said piston rods, a cylinder mounted upon each ofsaid pistons, pull rods secured to said cylinders and extending upwardpast said turret, means secured to the tops of said pull rods, over saidpresse'r members, for pressing the work against the latter, a fluidconducting member mounted upon said sup port coaxially with saidturret,and means leading from said fluid-conducting member and adapted tocharge said cylinders through their respective piston rods.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of'October,1923.

FRANK J. MACDONALD.

